Search committee after Parliament nod to Lokpal bill: Government

NEW DELHI: A search committee responsible for providing assistance in choosing chairperson and members for the Lokpal will be constituted after an amendment bill in this regard gets Parliament nod.

A parliamentary committee is examining the Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014, which was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 8 last year.

"The constitution of the search committee by the selection committee and other steps towards the selection of chairperson and members in Lokpal, as per the amended rules, can be processed only after the said bill is passed by Parliament," the Department of Personnel and Training ( DoPT) said in a notice.

According to the notice on the status of applications received for the Lokpal, the Centre's role has been curtailed from circulating the vacancy in the anti-corruption body to providing such assistance as may be required by the search committee.

The DoPT had received applications for the posts of chairperson and members of Lokpal in response to its advertisement and circular on January 17 and 18, last year, respectively.

A number of writ petitions were filed in various high courts and in the Supreme Court, challenging some of the provisions of the Lokpal rules. The central government had in August 2014 notified the new rules for the functioning of the search committee, it said.

The rules, which have now been "substantially modified", now merely provides that the central government shall provide such assistance as may be required by the search committee in efficient discharge of its functions, the notice said.